Played last Thursday at Shepshed:
1 Henfrey, Robert 167 1-0 160 Dodds, Iain
2 Bowley, Rupert 161 0-1 143 Watkinson, Phil
3 Farrall, David 159 0-1 150 Smith, Stephen
4 Bennett, Kevin 148 Drawn 146 Wells, Jeremy
5 Rice, Stephen 140 Drawn 135 Pike, Andrew
calculated score-------- 2 - 3 -----------------
Our first match was at Shepshed, and it was a tough one. I remember a couple of years ago, the 3rd team also started a new campaign at Shepshed; we won that time, mainly due to having 'new boy' Walter Dehnen on board 1.
No such luck this time; out-graded on every board by a team that was playing in Division 1 last year, we expected to be well beaten.
However, Lady Caissa continued to favour us. Firstly, Andrew, on board 5, survived an fatal attack which everyone, except Andrew's opponent, could see the correct continuation. Secondly, on board 2, I was being slowly but surely beaten when my opponent ran out of time.
The Man of the Match was Stephen Smith, with a convincing win over David Farnall; Jez Wells, on 4, was up to the task of securing a draw, and therefore winning the match for us.
Although by this time the match was lost for Shepshed, pride dictated that the board 1 game would not be let go easily; Iain, with all his defensive skills, could not, in the end, resist the pressure.
Overall a good win for us, and an excellent start to the season.
Regards,
Phil.
Posts
